Powers: Voigt possesses the ability to
duplicate the abilities of any paranormal he encounters, but at a
much greater level. Thus, he has duplicated Dave Lander's
strength, but is even stronger than him; he can create an
Anti-Body like Randy O'Brien's, but his is much larger, and more
powerful; he has duplicated Stephanie Harrington's healing
ability, various telepathic powers, teleportation, telescopic
vision, force fields, and an untold number of others. His
favoured telepathic trick is to place mental commands within his
opponents that will force them to kill themselves should they act
against him.

History: (DP7#12 (fb))- On September 4,
1986, psychology professor Philip Nolan Voigt was climbing a
mountain in the Colorado rockies, when "the White
Event" occured. Closer to this phenomena than any other
person, Voigt gained immense paranormal abilities, allowing him
to duplicate the parabilities of others. During the White Event,
Voigt's mind was opened, and he learnt "the meaning of
everything", including the origin of the White Event itself,
and the purpose of paranormals. But when the Event ceased, the
knowledge faded. Journeying to the Sawyer Sanatorium in
Wisconsin, Voigt contacted a former student of his, Dexter
Charne, who worked there, and together they took control over the
Sanatorium, and renamed it the Clinic For Paranormal Research.
Convinced from the White Event that paranormals would one day
rule the earth, Voigt began to gather other paranormals to the
Clinic, ostensibly, to aid them in dealing with their powers, but
intending to raise an army of paranormals there.

(DP7#1)- Voigt met with his three top
operatives, Regulator, Reinforcer, and Receptor, to discuss the
Clinic's newest patients, Randy O'Brien, Jeff Walters, Charlotte
Beck, Stephanie Harrington, Dennis Cuzinski, Lenore Fenzl and
David Landers. Voigt ordered them to determine which members of
the group would be suitable for the CIA's paranormal force.

(DP7#2)- Learning that all seven members of the
therapy group had run away, Voigt dispatched former Clinic
patients (now CIA agents) Vice Versa, Bloodhound and Shrapnel to
retrieve them.

(Kickers Inc.#5)- Voigt was confronted at the
Clinic by John Magniconte and the Smashers, who had been informed
by Stephanie's son Ben that the Clinic was after her. Voigt and
Reinforcer used their powers to convince Magniconte to attack the
escaped paranormals, but not even Magniconte's strength could
overcome the combined paranormals.

(DP7#6)- Voigt finally turned to the CIA and
their elite agents, informed them of the seven's powers, and sent
them on their trail.

(DP7#10)- The CIA successfully captured six of
the paranormals, but O'Brien's Anti-Body and Landers remained at
large. Receptor, angered at Voigt's calm acceptance of her
resignation, attempted to read Voigt's thoughts, but the backlash
from the attempt knocked her unconscious. Later, Evan Huebner
arrived with O'Brien's Anti-Body, but it dissipated before Voigt
could capture it.

(DP7#12)- The CIA finally delivered Landers,
but he had become immune to mental tampering, and was able to
escape the clutches of Reinforcer and Receptor, and awaken
O'Brien. Voigt confronted the two of them, and related the
history of his powers and the Clinic to them. After disclosing
his intention to raise a paranormal army, Landers and O'Brien
attacked him. Voigt's superior strength allowed him to hurl
Landers away, and his superior Anti-Body tore up O'Brien's, but
when Landers returned, and O'Brien generated five new
Anti-Bodies, Voigt decided to flee. His Anti-Body pulled him
inside of its form, just as Landers punched the Anti-Body,
seemingly destroying it. O'Brien and Landers searched the
grounds, but could not find any trace of Voigt.

BTS- But Voigt was not dead, and had decided to
depart, leaving the Clinic in the hands of O'Brien and Landers.
Ultimately, the Clinic was lost when it was discovered and raided
by local authorities.

(Psi-Force#26 (BTS))- A year later, Voigt entered
the race for the presidency of the United States, making his campaign
headquarters in Manhattan. "Leaker" held a meeting with journalist
Andrew Chaser, to inform him that Voigt was a paranormal, but an
assassin working for Voigt shot Leaker dead.

(DP7#28)- The CIA dispatched the paranormals
Chrome, Stephanie Harrington, Charlotte Beck and Merriam Sorenson
there, but Voigt easily took control of their minds. When O'Brien
and Landers arrived, having learnt of Voigt's plan, Voigt was
surprised to learn that both men were now immune to mental
tampering. Therefore, he unleashed the four CIA agents on them,
who easily defeated their friends. Voigt then issued an
ultimatum: O'Brien and Landers would leave him be, or he would
command their friends to kill themselves. O'Brien and Landers had
no choice but to comply.

(Justice#29)- On November 2, 1988, Voigt won
the presidental election by a landslide vote.

(Starbrand#18)- Shortly thereafter, Voigt was
visited at the White House by Jacob Burnley, then-wielder of the
Starbrand. Burnley had learnt of Voigt from Landers and O'Brien,
and came to see if Voigt was as corrupt as they claimed. Angered
by Burnley's evasiveness regarding who had sent him, Voigt
attacked him, but was shocked to discover that Burnley's power
exceeded his own, and could even take control of his powers,
forcing him to take on every power on the planet at once. Burnley
thereby stripped Voigt of all his powers.

BTS- Voigt moved the nation's capitol to Denver,
Colorado, while he recovered from the loss of his powers.

(Justice#31)- Voigt met in person with Andrew
Chaser, and confessed he was a paranormal, but no longer
possessed his abilities. Chaser became convinced that one day,
President Voigt would have to be killed.

(The War#2)- Manipulated by South Africa into
starting World War 3, Voigt ordered the launch of America's
nuclear missiles.

(The War#3)- However, due to the interference
of the Starchild, the missiles of America, Russia, and Cuba, all
failed to detonate.

(The War#4)- With the war brought to a halt by
the Starchild, Voigt visited Lt. Keith Remsen, Nightmask, who had
been driven insane after killing the terrorist Blowout. He also
visited Mapper (Jonathan Matthews), a wounded member of the
Paranormal Platoon in the hospital.

BTS- During the years that passed, Voigt
recovered his powers.

(Quasar#56)- Years later, Voigt was among those
paranormals summoned by Nightmask to deal with the threat of
"alien invasion" by Skeletron. When Kayla Ballantine
appeared the gathered paranormals and informed them that
Skeletron was nearby. Voigt decided to patrol the skies, and was
joined by Psi-Hawk. Before long, they encountered Kayla's
boyfriend, Quasar, who had come in search of her, and the two
demanded that he state his intentions. When Quasar shrugged them
off, Voigt trapped him inside of his Anti-Body, and brought him
back to the others.

(Starblast#4)- After Voigt deposited Quasar, he
soon convinced them he was on their side, and transported them to
Skeletron's vessel. Aboard there, they were attacked by Quasar's
allies, who had been enthralled by the Stranger. Voigt fought
Binary, and easily absorbed her energy-based attacks. Ultimately,
Skeletron was trapped within the New Universe, while the Stranger
brought their earth into the Marvel Universe for him to study.

(Quasar#57- Angered that the Stranger intended
to use his world for experimentation, Voigt prepared to confront
him, but was returned to the earth by the Living Tribunal, who
then sealed the entire planet off from the Marvel Universe.

Comments: Created by Mark Gruenwald and
Paul Ryan.

Voigt's name is often mis-spelt
"Voight".

No explanation has been offered as to how Voigt
regained his powers, but given the scope of his powers, it's
unlikely they could ever be permanently dormant. Note that Randy
O'Brien seemingly lost his own powers on two occasions, only for
them to resurface, stronger than before each time.

Voigt is only referred to as
"Overshadow" in DP7#12, and during the Starblast
crossover.

Voigt's personality in The War is somewhat
askew. He behaved more like "generic movie president
guy" than the Voigt we know and love to hate. You could
replace Voigt with the president from Independence Day or The
American President without any notice.

The New Universe possesses interesting
temporal characteristics. The White Event occurred on September
4, 1986, after which events moved in real time, at least up to
the War, sometime in later 1989, or early 1990. They interacted
with the Marvel Universe in 1991-1992 of real time, and were last
seen in 1994, at the conclusion of the Star Blast saga. It's
unlikely that the characters of the NU will be seen again (a true
shame), but I'd like to think that they should somehow stay in
real time. In addition, as the Prime One points out, since the
Living Tribunal has isolated them from the rest of the Universe,
they should be isolated from Eternity as well, meaning they won't
be a part of 'Marvel Time' (or lack thereof).--Snood.